The Desert Contrarian Has Her Say

Yep, that is me. When I was much younger I always said I would be a misanthrope when I grew up and also an eccentric old lady when I got old. Well, I am not Old  yet but but it won't be too much longer. I have not yet retired to the hermitage of the hollow Cottonwood Tree along some southwestern stream that I once envisioned but that day may come. You know, a kind of Hobbit Hole house in a huge old tree. Not too practical obviously but a neat idea. The eccentric old lady is emerging like a moth from its chrysalis, full grown and ready to fly--off the handle, to conclusions and into a hissy fit with little notice! ROFL.(Okay, hissy fits are technically thrown, not flown into but you get the idea.)

 Riding off into the mustard yellow sunset on my trusty steed...

And contrary is something I have always been. Last night I woke up once and found a peculiar notion rattling around in my head. A bit of background is needed here. I get  Feng Shui tips as well as a western and a Chinese horoscope and my one card tarot reading each day in email from an outfit called Astrology.com. They do bombard you with ads to purchase special readings, conversations with live psychics and such but the little fun things are free. Check it out.

Now how the lady who does the Feng Shui stuff does it I cannot say but she comes up each day with a supposed factoid that this is the national or international day of such and so. And then ties a feng shui tip or trick to it. Amazing! There are days you never imagined, much less heard of, some quite marvelous and others totally ludicrous. Well, to make a long story short, I woke to find a "special day" idea bouncing around in my head. I rolled it across my tongue and said, "yes, I like it!" What was my day? How about "The National (or International, if you prefer) Cutting Through the Crap Day"? Doesn't that just have a fabulous ring to it? I can visualize standing up in varied places, perhaps starting with Congress or one's local state capital and screaming, "Shut up! This is The National Cutting Through the Crap Day" and I am cutting right through yours! Get back to facts and truth and right." Of course it is never going to happen but I can still smile from ear to ear at the thought.

So, my sisters and friends. go and cut through some crap! You will do the world a service and I am sure make yourself feel better. I may make it the National Week. Month or Year!! Let us unite and raise our voices in heartfelt protest.

More comments and offerings to come soon. I am slowly mastering Win7 and a laptop keyboard. Operative word is slowly but it is happening. At least I found that Word 2003 will run on Win7--thanks be to all the Powers!--and on we go from there. Once I have the first parts down I will attempt Word 2010 or maybe just jump to 2013.but I can write and such in the meantime. Whew.

Go in peace and harmony--but cut through the crap.

Old Dogs and New Tricks

I am probably the last--no, I know there are others--but I am a holdout and dragging  my heels as hard as I can. I *love* XP and have held on to it to the bitter end here and am still going to run my trusty old tower system with it for as long as I can but I do see the handwriting on the wall so there will not be much more on-line work done from it. My dear brother has come up with a nice Compaq laptop running Win7 which should still be good for a time yet and I've got it up and running. I struggle with laptop keyboards and touchpad-in-lieu of mouse but I'll cope. I even have loaded Word 2010 on it--again, a major change I just hate--and am going to make myself learn it. And it is way different from my familiar Word 2003. DTBL!!

I  just don't see why they have to keep reinventing wheels here but that's the way it goes. You cannot make big bucks selling and keeping up old stuff. The crowd that used to have to get the newest super-power zero to ninety nine in 20 second muscle cars are that way about computers now and then everyone is going over to tablets and smart-phones with touch screens and apps and all that stuff. What is going to happen to working office computers and the things writers use and all that??? They say the PC is all but dead and I am growling like a mad dog. Who is going to write a novel on an iPad for pete's sake?? It damn well won't be me!!

So bear with me. I've got to export a lot of things from one system to the other That means downloading to a flash drive or CD and then uploading to the other. They are not networked and so direct transfer isn't possible and without some super high tech gear XP and Win7 do not play nice together even if they were networked. So tedious cut/copy, paste, move and all that. Still growing... And then adapt my fingers to a very compact keyboard--never was a great typist anyway, learn that I want backspace and not delete when I hit the wrong letters--and where to find things and what they are called now. Frustration is my current middle name

WHO shrank the doggie door?

And my dang tongue is not quite long enough!

Yep, I'm one sad pooch here!!

. I think I will make a run down to Staples and grab a handful of flash drive USB sticks and I'll write on the old system and then move the file to the new to send to my publisher etc. I'll keep my fave photos on another and put some of them into the laptop so my slide show will run. I use it on power and not battery 99% of the time so no issues there. And if I do make that trip to Alaska this summer, I may even go nutso enough to grab a tablet and use it for my notes and rough drafts and such on that trek.

So cut the old gal some slack. I'll learn and I'll adapt but I have to bitch and whine and grouse a bit in the meantime! I may not post quite as often for a bit here but will endeavor not to vanish! Oh, I had my semi-annual freeze-dry treatment on Thursday--that's when the dermatologist takes the liquid nitrogen to the blotches and patches and yucky spots on the aging over-sunned skin. Now they are either blisters or itch like a fiend. This too will pass. They had it right--getting older is not for the faint of heart!!

For now Happy Easter to those who commemorate or Blessed Oester or hail to spring as it bursts into blooms, greenery and April showers. Yes, we are getting some of them today. So far, NMA in the rain gauge but have hopes for at least a tenth or so. It's a nice novelty to have the air small damp and to see some of that wet stuff in the heavy clouds and coming down on the hills above us if not right here.

Hummingbirds are back!

For over ten days I have been spending most of my time in the house and quite a lot of it horizontal or semi-reclining but I did hear a couple of hummers--the distinct buzz of their wings and the faint little twitters they make--on a rare expedition out to soak up some sun. So I managed to heat up some sugar water and fill and hang two feeders. It's been windy a lot and that doesn't help my situation or that of several of my friends and family but we are all on the mend at last.. The last two days I have been sitting out on the patio some though and have seen at least three of my little mascots. They are just so amazing!

I had a flu shot but this flu-type bug charged right in over it. Causes a head full of nasty gunk, a hacking, gagging cough, some fever, body aches and general misery. Then I got a sinus infection on top of it and finally went to urgent care for some antibiotics as I may have mentioned. After a week of that treatment the infection is nearly gone. I am feeling noticeably better but still not up to full speed and energy. That will probably take another week or two. Drat and darn. I have lost two weeks of time I needed to get a bunch of projects wrapped up and more plans made for my potential Alaska trip. Still waiting on replies to some letters I sent but I expect I will be hearing from some of them soon.

My roses have burst into bloom. Three of the bushes are almost covered in buds and blooms. The sweet scent fills the patio area and adds a pleasant ambiance to my already favorite place. The hummers zoom by and check out some of the blooms. I'm not sure how much nectar roses have but if the scent is a sign, they must be sweet! I'll try to get some photos soon. Meanwhile here are a few I took last year. With an added year to grow and develop, though, they are even more spectacular!! Although the photo is not as spectacular the third one is my favorite; it is a gorgeous apricot hue and as sweet scented as any rose I ever grew. I get the names mixed up so will have to go back and double check my planting records! Also my iris should begin blooming before long. Most are white but there is one pretty purple-bronze one. Now if only my lilacs will grow enough to bloom!!

Best laid plans...

Drat and dang. Bobbie Burns did have it right when he penned that verse. Mine have gang aglee for sure for over a week here as I have been down with an ugly flu-like bug that decided to morph into a nasty sinus infection while it was parasiting in me. I began to run a high fever over the weekend and ended up going to urgent care--try getting into your doctor on short notice these days--and coming away with a two-week dose of antibiotics. I'm allergic to lots of those but so far old-fashioned sulfa (did you know it was the first antibiotic to be used widely?) works for me and it is now coming back because a lot of nasty organisms have not built up a resistance to it due to long limited use. After seven of the twenty-eight horse-choking capsules taken, I am feeling better, like there may be life when this is over after all. Sheesh!! Give me another day or three to regain my stride.

I got word that I will have two releases at Amber Quill in May, the reissue of another Gwynn Morgan novel and a new Deirdre O'Dare story as well. If you want more on that you will have to pop over to the DeirdreDares blog. 'cause I don't sell books here. That is just offered in passing.

My other big project is still in waiting--for some replies back to the letters I have already sent out, to far-away Alaska. I will let a cat's whisker out of the bag and confess that one was to the Iditarod Trail Committee--they will answer I am pretty sure once the extensive business of finishing the 2014 race stuff is done--and to several of the currently living lady mushers who go back to the early days and some of the current ones. I will also say that it involves a proposal for a book...  A lot more soon, guaranteed! So meanwhile cross your fingers and say a prayer or two for me that I can make this happen. It will be special and different and  something of a lot more substance than any of my fiction has ever been. Maybe my legacy as a writer, in some ways.

How can anyone help but love those beautiful dogs? This image is owned by the Committee but I share it with all respect and honor. Hasta luego!